Veteran Gifted New Roof While Paying for Gas

By Cass Jacoby. 

How a chance encounter at a gas station in White Cloud, Michigan became a brand-new roof for this Army veteran. 

Army veteran Jeannie Sconyers was waiting in the line at her local gas station when she was handed a flyer that was the key to a brand-new roof. “He saw my hat and he's like, ‘Hey, Purple Heart Homes!’" Jeannie told FOX 17 WXMI. 

Jeannie’s home was chosen to be gifted a new roof through a partnership with Purple Heart Homes, a non-profit veterans-focused charity, and the Owens Corning Roof Development Project, which is dedicated to honoring veterans who served our country. Owens Corning donated the materials and their member in business, West Michigan Roofing and Construction donated the labor. 

“This is actually great, it turned out to be more than one veteran because her husband is a veteran, so it wasn’t just one family, it seems like an entire family,” Purple Heart Homes Representative Dave Sbraccia told UpNorth Live. 

The new roof comes just in time for Jeannie and her family. “We really did need the new roof, it was huge for us,” Jeannie told Up North Live. “We don’t have a lot of money and people help us as best they can in a small poor community like this, there’s only so much you can do.” 

Jeannie explains how one night rain started leaking into their son’s room, “There was one night when it was just downpour, rain, like the sky opened up,” Jeannie told FOX 17 WXMI. They had to act fast as the water was leaking onto the electrical outlet. “My poor husband had to climb on the roof and tarp in the middle of the rain." 

Jeannie knows just how blessed she is to get a new roof and how important the support and help from these non-profits is for veterans. "Most of us veterans, when we get out, we struggle financially really hard. It's not easy," says Jeannie. "For somebody to help us get a brand-new roof on our house, it takes a lot of stress and a lot of worry off of us."  

Now Jeannie and her family no longer have to worry about the roof over their heads. “We can’t thank them enough,” Jeannie told UpNorth Live. “This might seem small to them but it's huge for us.” 

Have a question? AskARoofer.

Find your local roofing contractor in the RoofersCoffeeShop® Contractor Directory. 

About Cass

Cass works as a reporter/writer for RoofersCoffeeShop and AskARoofer. When she isn’t writing about roofs, she is writing about movies for her master's degree and dancing with her plants.   

Photo credit: FOX 17 WXMI.